In the Floating Castle
by Lady of the Sky
Summary: It's a world of almost unimaginable potential. Everything in points and skills, with nothing in your way between you and success. But the danger is just as great in Aincrad. Once you're in the floating castle, there's no out until you win. "But can we do it, Hal? Do you really think we'll make it out?" She scoffs, rolls her eyes. "Of course, Emmi. There's no way we can't."
1. Chapter 1

"Happy birthday, little brother. Blow out the candles and make a wish."  
"Hn." Emil glances up from his book to see his sister holding out a cupcake in one hand and her phone in the other. "There's just one candle on that, Hal."

"A candle nonetheless. You'll get your wish granted more easily this way, besides." She smiles at him and gestures for him to sit up. "Come on, be quick about it." Despite himself, Emil smiles slightly.

"Alright, alright…" He closes his eyes for a few seconds, looking rather serious, and Haldora has to resist the urge to start laughing. When he opens his eyes, he raises a brow at her expression but says nothing and blows out the single flame. "Done."

"What did you wish for?" she inquires curiously.

"I can't tell you, or it won't come true," Emil replies, huffing slightly. Haldora's smile grows wider as she stops recording video.

"I'm glad you still believe in magic, little brother." A roll of his eyes.

"Don't act surprised. You wouldn't let me not believe in magic if I tried."

"Very true." She pockets her phone and hands Emil the cupcake, shaking her head when he tries to offer her a bite. "I made fourteen. That's your 'one to grow on,' if I understand the practice correctly."

"Are you implying I'm smaller than average?"

"I'm not implying that at all. It is just… a tradition I heard of while I was an exchange student. I might have gotten it wrong, though…" Emil shrugs.

"It's pretty good, so I'm not complaining." His sister ruffles his hair.

"Good. After you're done, we can get a few more if you'd like, or just go straight to presents." His face brightens.

"You got me presents?"

"Of course I did. I do every year." She holds up a hand to stop him before he starts to speak. "And yes, I got you actual presents. You've got some from Mother and Father, too, you know."

"Well, yeah, but…" He shrugs. "They don't know what I want, so I'm not too excited for socks and ties."

"Fair enough." She brushes some icing off his nose, then gestures for him to follow. "Come on, everything's in the living room." He stands up and follows her there, where he's surprised to see a few oddly shaped boxes.

"I wonder what those are…"

"Wonder, wonder, but don't start opening until I start recording," Haldora commands, going over to the digital camera. "Easier than the phone for this. Go, go, sit."

"Alright, alright…" he replies, rolling his eyes with a fake sigh and flopping onto the couch. "Ready?" Haldora nods and gives him a thumbs up. At that, he tears into the first package. It's a stack of books, a few of which are mythology.

"Do you like them?"

"Yeah, of course. This one, especially," he murmurs, running his fingertips over the cover of an old epic. "Is this your copy?"

"It is," she replies with a nod. "But you always liked this one best, so I thought you should have it. That's not a problem, is it?" Emil smiles at her, hugging the book to his chest.

"Not at all. Thank you, Hal."

"So very welcome," Haldora says, ruffling his hair lightly and kissing his forehead. She laughs when he flushes and tries to rub it off. "Next one~ Careful with this, it's fragile."

"Right." He takes the next package she hands him, this one rather weighty and unbalanced. "What could this…" He opens it carefully and slowly raises a plastic cup containing a Betta fish out. The fish is dark blue with several iridescent colors on its flowing fins. "…Aurora."

"Aurora?" His sister can't help bursting into laughter at that. "Bror, you know that's a male fish, right?"

"Male?" Emil asks, looking at her in confusion. "But it's so pretty and frilly… Whatever, I'm keeping the name," he decides, staring at the fish and ignoring the burning in his cheeks. "I just hope Mr. Puffin doesn't eat him…"

"Naming never was your strong suit," she muses, now picking up a glass fishbowl with a plastic top from behind the couch. "This should keep that meddling bird from killing your fish."

"He's not meddling. He's just.. outspoken."

"He's not cute at all about it," Haldora mutters as she pulls something thin and rectangular from the couch cushions.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a re- What's that?" Emil asks, curiosity piqued.

"Hm, I don't know." The smile on his sister's face is rather prideful. "Why don't you open it and tell me?"

"Don't have to tell me twice." In seconds, the paper is gone, and Emil is staring dumbfounded at the gift. "I-is this serious?"

"One hundred percent. Do you like it?"

"Do I like it? I love it!" He hops up and starts dancing around, and Haldora's all the more pleased she's recording this. "How'd you get SAO? What'd you have to do? You said you didn't do anything cool while you were on foreign exchange, and now this- What's that smirk for?"

"Well, for one, I lied about not doing anything. I was a Beta tester. I got two copies; one for me, one for you," she answers, ticking them off on her fingers. "And we've already got our NerveGear, of course." Her smirk turns into a grin. "I asked, and Mor and Far said it was alright for me to take you with me when I go back, at least for a while. So, in about a week, I'll take you with me to Japan so we can start the game. I read that it's going to have servers elsewhere later, but right now they're only in Japan. Should pick up when they start selling them in other countries- Oh, I can explain later. For now, want more cake?"

"I don't mind if you go on and get yours. I want to put Aurora in the bowl for right now."

"Be quick about it, or I'll eat all the carrot cake."

"'Kay." With a nod, he takes his new things up to his room and sorts them out. Emil sets up the fishbowl on his nightstand before carefully placing Aurora inside it. He stares at the fish for a while, watching it flit around in its new home, before deciding the fish is sufficiently pleased and flops back onto his bed. Emil studies the game case in his hands. 'Sword Art Online… I can hardly believe it… This is gonna be great, I know it.'

"Emmi! Hurry up before I get to the red velvet, too!"

"Oh, no you don't!" He gives the game one last look before tossing it onto his bed and dashing down the stairs. "Don't put your germs all over it, I want that one!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Emil is practically vibrating with all his excited and nervous energy. The news is on, and the game case is in his hands, begging him to open it and put it in the NerveGear where it belongs.

'Hal said it was unlike anything I could imagine… I wonder what it'll be like to actually be in that world.' He glances at the clock and is a bit startled by how fast the time went. The game is in the system and the NerveGear on in a flash.

"Emil?" His sister peeks in his cracked door at him. "It's about time to start, are you ready?" He gives her a nod in response, and she returns it with a smile. "Alright, then. I'll be at the weapons stand with the NPC wearing the blue headscarf."

"'Kay. I'll- hey, wait, what will your screenname be?" But she's already left down the hall. He sighs a bit, then jumps when he sees the time. "I'd better log on…" Emil takes a deep breath before putting the helmet on. He switches the system on, lies down, and stares up at his ceiling.

'Well, here goes. A whole new world.'

"Link start!"

A flash of brilliant colors rush past him, and he's a bit scared. His body is nonexistent and he's entirely engulfed in the electronic slipstream. Language is chosen almost instantly, but name is a bit harder. 'What do I want to be..' _'Lundi the Fierce'_ pops up on the screen after a moment of thought, and he sighs. 'Hal's right, I am terrible at names… I should have asked her ahead of time.' Thinking about his terrible naming skills reminds him of his fish, Aurora, and he gets an idea. _'Prince Borealis'_ appears on the screen, and he smiles.

He's made his avatar ahead of time, and in no time, he's in the shape, testing it out. Everything feels natural, and he goes on to the last part of the log on. 'Time to see what this world has to offer.'

Emil, or rather, Prince Borealis, manifests in what looks like a town plaza. He blinks, looking around himself curiously. His higher vantage point is more noticeable now that he's in an actual playing location rather than a field of white, and he takes a few cautious steps. To his minor surprise, he doesn't stumble over the taller legs, nor feel awkward about the increase in bulk. 'So far, so good. Now, Hal told me to meet her at a weapons stand…'

Prince Borealis frowns a little, noting that being in the middle of the plaza means everything's a fair distance away. And this town is rather huge, too.. 'It'll take forever to go to all the stalls… What was she thinking?' He squints a little at a faint smudge of blue, and is surprised when his vision suddenly zooms in and focuses like a pair of high tech binoculars. "Amazing…" Sure enough, the smudge is the headscarf of a weapons dealer, and quite certainly an NPC, seeing as it's much too early in the game for any players to have set up any shops. He doesn't see Haldora yet, but there aren't many people in the area, so she shouldn't be hard to find when she shows up. Prince Borealis starts walking toward the stand, stopping periodically to check the distance.

It doesn't take him long at all to get there, but when he arrives there, only the NPC and a blond man are at the stand. He waves off the salesperson's greeting of "Hello! Are you wanting a sword, my good man?" in favor of looking around.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" Prince Borealis turns around at the sound of the smooth voice, and flushes after a moment when he realizes it's the blond man.

"I- No, I'm not lost, just looking for someone."

"Oh? Well, is it a certain person, or just someone as adorable as you?" The man flashes him a hint of a smile, and he feels his cheeks grow warmer.

"I, um… Looking for my sister…"

"Perhaps I can help you find her? I get the feeling it won't be nearly as hard as you think."

"I think maybe it will.." he mutters with a shake of his head. "I don't see any girls around." The blond shrugs, linking his arm through the other's.

"Maybe you're not looking in the right places. Until you find her, I think I'll take you, yes?"

"Ye- wait, no!" he stutters. "You're handsome and all, but you can't just take me like that! Hal will be upset with me- um, whoever you are!"

"What's so wrong with disappearing with a handsome gentleman?"

"The disappearing part! I can't have her not knowing where I am." The blond man snorts.

"I don't think that will be an issue," he replies, and he quickly descends into a fit of giggles.

'Wait a second…' There's something about that laughter that he recognizes, and he turns the man's face toward him. "Haldora? Is that you?"

"Got me~" she trills teasingly, not at all looking very sorry. "So clever, baby brother. I thought for a second I was going to have to tell you myself."

"It's not funny, Hal!" he huffs, pouting.

"It was a little." She manages to stop her fit and straightens up. "So, you like boys? Or am I just that attractive?"

"Hal! I'm thirteen, gods!" He turns away from her, now looking at the swords on the NPC's table. "And honestly, I didn't know it was you, so you can't count it as a matter of gender. I can't see you as anything but my sister."

"Hm… Interesting. Anyway, you don't need to buy a sword yet. You start off with something. Check your inventory."

"How do I do that?" She rolls her eyes, making a slicing motion through the air with her hand.

"Open the menu and follow the instructions."

"Right…" After a little fiddling, he manages to figure it out and gets to his sword. Or rather, dagger. "New Stone Blade…"

"Pretty cool. Let's go test it." She- or rather, he- leads Borealis out of the town and into a plains area. It would look like any normal grassland, were it not for the rather oddly built hogs with red eyes ambling around.

"Hal… those are pretty creepy looking." He inches away from them, forgetting for a moment how much bigger than them he is.

"Mm, yeah. But they're not hard to deal with. There are wolves, too, should I show you those next?"

"No, no, no, do not want. If these hogs are anything to go by, the wolves must look like something out of a nightmare."

"Kinda, yeah." She takes out her own dagger. "Now, the key to this is letting the skill warm up. Just pull back and hold it-" She demonstrates the movement. "And just- let it go." At that, she whips her arm forward and throws the weapon straight through one of the hogs.

"Wow… That's pretty cool. Is it hard to do?" A shake of her- his head.

"Not even a little. It's not strength based, just skill." She frowns slightly and sends a party request to Prince Borealis.

"Eh?"

"In case we split up, I need to know where you are. It's better this way, trust me."

"Fiiiine…" Borealis accepts the friend request from… "Halli? That's a bit simplistic, really."

"Yeah, well." She snickers a little. "Yours is on the gaudy side, _my prince_. Still, way better than your usual, so nice work."

"…That was so backhanded it'd knock a tennis ball off the court."

"Why, thank you, my liege. Would you like to try it?"

"Sure, whatever." He pulls back, loads the skill, and burst forward, slicing one of the hogs in half. "That good?"

"Very. You'll do well in this world," she comments with a nod of her head. "Let's see… I'll teach you about shops and stands next, alright?"

"Okay. Do we go to that one with the NPC we met at?"

"Don't need a weapon," Halli reminds him, opening her inventory. "But there are some items I want to grab first. Everything's limited and regulated here, like in the real world."

•×•×•

They're at a stand when it happens. It's one selling scarves, one of which Prince Borealis insisted on having. They've just handed over the coins when a white light starts at their feet.

"Hal, what's-?"

"Forced teleport." She frowns. "This isn't supposed to- Emil give me your-!"

Before Halli can grab ahold of his hand, they both disappear, reappearing in the main plaza.

"Emil! Emil, where are you?" She calls him and looks around, hoping he's nearby, but she doesn't see him, and she realizes how easily she could lose him here. 'Well, I still have the party, and if that fails, I'll talk to him when we log out…'

A loud, obnoxious blaring sounds through the square, and a series of red hexagons mosaic the sky, filling it in with the word "WARNING" as far as they can see. People start to huddle in closer nervously as a frightening red sludge slips through the almost nonexistent cracks between the hexagons. The slime takes form as a hooded figure, and despite her better logic, Haldora can feel panic edging at her mind. 'This is too much, event or not…' She swipes her hand through the air and goes to the main menu.

"What?!"

There's no logout button. 'Maybe it's just temporary…' At this point, she starts listening to the figure, Kayaba Akihito.

"Some of you may have noticed there is no logout button." He calls up his menu with his giant hand, shows the missing command. "I am telling you right now this is intentional. It is not a glitch in the game, but a feature of Sword Art Online."

Haldora stops listening. To Akihito, anyway. She's instead focusing on her own thoughts. 'If there's no getting out until we win, what could we do? I only got to sixth floor in the Beta, and I know they made it harder now… If that's five floors a month, being generous, and there are a hundred floors… Twenty months… Almost two years, and that's being hopeful.' She sinks onto her knees and doesn't even register the first scream or the sudden uproar around her. Nothing makes an impact except her swirling thoughts until a familiar voice is heard.

"Hal! Hal, where are you?" The yelling's not very loud at all- it'd be hard to hear from any real distance, or to even recognize as an exclamation. But it's persistent, and it gets her to look up. The source of the yelling gets closer and puts a hand on her shoulder, making her turn around.

"Emmi?" She's right to be surprised, because now Prince Borealis looks like, well, Emil. And with a start, she realizes that she's herself, too.

"Haldora, are you okay?" Emil lowers himself onto the ground in front of her, studying her with concern. He brushes his thumb under her eyes, and Haldora wonders when she started crying.

"I- I'm fine, Emil. Don't worry." She sighs and brushes her sleeve over her eyes. "I- we have to stay together all the time, okay? I can't be losing you. We'll figure something out."

"Okay…" He looks a little uncertain but doesn't question her, instead standing up and offering a hand to help her do the same. "Where do we go first?"

"Fields, around the paths surrounding the Town of Beginnings. Need to get points before anyone else. Don't wanna get stuck here." He nods.

"I'm kind of wishing I'd chosen a simpler name, now.. I don't exactly look very regal like this."

"Ha." The admission gets her to crack a smile, and she ruffles his hair lightly. "We'll find a nickname to use, then. I'll probably still call you Emmi, but we can't have other people knowing our names."

"Yours is easy, though," he huffs, pouting slightly. "'Halli' is a good name, even if it is a boy's one."

"Mm, yes. I just wish my skill in choosing names had passed onto you." She takes his hand and starts walking, dodging the crowd of people and pulling him along. "I am the one who named you."

"Are you serious?"

"Mmhm. Mother and father wanted to name you Blaer. Wouldn't have worked. 'Emil' is way cooler, anyway."

"Totally."


End file.
